iroha uta いろは歌

The iroha (Japanese: 伊呂波, いろは) is a Japanese poem most likely written sometime during the Heian era (AD 794–1179). Originally the poem was attributed to the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, Kukai, but more modern research has found the date of composition to be later in the Heian Period. The first record of its existence dates from 1079. It is famous because it is a perfect pangram, containing each character of the Japanese syllabary exactly once.

色は匂へど
散りぬるを
我が世誰ぞ
常ならむ
有為の奥山
今日越えて
浅き夢見じ
酔ひもせず

i ro ha ni ho he to
chi ri nu ru wo wa ka
yo ta re so tsu ne na
ra mu u wi no o ku
ya ma ke fu ko e te
a sa ki yu me mi shi
we hi mo se su

いろはにほへと

ちりぬるをわか

よたれそつねな

らむうゐのおく

やまけふこえて

あさきゆめみし

ゑひもせす

As flowers are brilliant but [inevitably] fall,

who could remain constant in our world? [No one could]

Today let us transcend the high mountain of transience,

and there will be no more shallow dreaming, no more drunkenness.

The iroha contains every kana precisely once, with the exception of ん [-n], which was spelled just like む "mu" at the time. For this reason, the poem was frequently used as an ordering of the kana until the Meiji era reforms in the 19th century. Thereafter the gojūon (五十音, literally "fifty sounds") ordering system became more common. This order is partly based on Sanskrit. It begins with "a, i, u, e, o" then "ka, ki, ku..." and so on for each kana used in Japanese. Although the iroha is seen as more "old fashioned" than the gojūon, the earliest known copy of the gojūon predates the iroha.

It is said that the iroha is a transformation of these verses in the Nirvana Sutra:


諸行無常
是生滅法
生滅滅已
寂滅為楽

which translates into

That everything is impermanent
Is the way all things come into and go out of existence.
It is when these processes are over
That we see true happiness in nirvana.

The above in Japanese is read

Shogyōmujō
Zeshōmeppō
Shōmetsumetsui
Jakumetsuiraku